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Mariela Castro, Cuba and human rights

Mariela Castro, Cuba and human rights

In the wake of several Cuban dissidents’ enlightening visits to the United States — among them Yoani Sánchez, Rosa María Payá and Berta Soler — came last weekend’s arrival of Raúl Castro’s daughter, Mariela Castro, who attended (with special dispensation from the State Department) a ceremony in Philadelphia to collect, of all things, a human rights award. The brilliant American comic Carol Burnett once said, “Comedy is tragedy plus time.” This expertly sums up the Cuban political polemic. Observed, studied and lived over time, Cuban politics of the last half century remains a classic tragedy that has played out as farce over 54 years.

The latest farce, a true tragicomedy: The Equality Forum, a non-profit, LGBT organization based in Philadelphia, feted Mariela Castro for her advocacy of gay rights in Cuba even though an entire island nation is denied basic human rights daily.

While Castro’s efforts in favor of the LGBT community on the island are positive at face value, they cannot trump the rights and freedoms all Cubans should have. Yet Castro, a sexologist who is the director of Cuba’s National Center for Sex Education, turns a blind eye, defiantly defending her father and uncle’s despotic rule over the decades.

The founder of Equality Forum, Malcolm Lazin, defended the selection of Castro for an award, noting that Cuba was designated guest country this year at the forum’s annual powwow.

“There is no question that Mariela Castro has made a sizable contribution to the LGBT community in Cuba. That activity is what we recognized,” he told me. “We were very open about the dismal situation for gay men and women in Cuba during the 1960s and ’70s. But that has changed. A few years ago Fidel Castro himself apologized for this terrible period of Cuban history.”

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, not everyone at the event was as naïve as Lazin is about the Castros. Former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, who was also recognized by Equality Forum, was quoted as saying, “I differ with her (Mariela Castro) very sharply if she embraces the political repression of her father and uncle.” Unfortunately, the Castros’ draconian rule in Cuba is not a blurry memory — a notion Mariela Castro and the regime’s apologists have tried to put forth.

1 comment to Mariela Castro, Cuba and human rights

Dismal situation during the 60s and 70s? What about the 80s, 90s and down to today, you asshole? Not just for gays, especially if they oppose the regime, but for ALL ordinary Cubans. Maybe Lazin really IS that stupid, but I expect it's worse than that. And these people run around demanding RESPECT? Oh yeah, I respect them, alright, just as much as they respect my intelligence.

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